Potential Claims for Investors in Merrill Lynch Structured Notes

The investment and securities fraud attorneys at Malecki Law are interested in hearing from investors who have purchased structured notes or other complex products from Merrill Lynch or its parent company, Bank of America.

According to a recent SEC press release, “Merrill Lynch has agreed to pay a $10 million penalty to settle charges that it was responsible for misleading statements in offering materials provided to retail investors for structured notes linked to a proprietary volatility index.” The issues surrounding the notes stemmed, at least in part, from disclosure of the fees paid by investors and the fee structure related to the “volatility index” to which the notes were linked, per the SEC.

For example, the notes reportedly were subject to a 2% sales commission and 0.75% annual fee. According to the SEC, for investors to earn back their original investment on the maturity date, the index would need to increase by at least 5.93%. The SEC also alleged that the offering materials failed to “adequately disclose” the 1.5% execution factor, which was an additional cost.

Similarly, in October of 2015, UBS reportedly agreed to pay a $19.5 million fine to settle charges that it too made “false or misleading statements and omissions” in offering materials of structured notes of its own that were sold to US investors.

The attorneys at Malecki Law are regularly contacted by and regularly represent individuals who have lost money in connection with inappropriate securities transactions. An experienced investment attorney may be able to help you recover your losses.